I finally went to the Household Hazardous Waste station to get rid of the old paint and random poisons from the basement and my old boss was still there! She and I went to Portland State and took Chemistry together so we gossiped a bit before I left.

Unfortunately, I got a phone call in the middle of the day that added a bit of unwanted excitement to my life. My 94-year-old uncle in Spokane, WA (my dad’s cousin, really) fell down some stairs a week ago and busted up his ribs and hit his head. His neighbor called me and told me that I was the first relative she found, and that the social worker wanted to declare my aunt incompetent so they could send some aid workers that she was refusing. The thing is, my aunt and uncle are pretty independent. They don’t even want me to know that there’s anything going on. I remember my dad and uncle called each others a couple times a year and their conversation was, “How are you?” “OK. And you?” “OK.” “OK, bye.” “OK, bye.”

I made some calls and there are other family friends taking care of things up there. I think I may be his closest living US relative, but what can I do? Especially since I know my aunt and uncle told the family friends not to call us and tell us what’s happening. I just know because of the neighbor. Fortunately, it sounds (third-hand) that my uncle will be OK to go home soon and his head is fine. But I’d like to hear that from a doctor of some sort.

My mom and I were just joking that our family reunion would mean driving across town to my sister’s place or, if we wanted to go all-out, driving up to my uncle’s place. Zemblanity.